In recent years, power control apparatuses for converting power supplied from distributed power supply, e.g., photovoltaic cells, wind power generators, etc., into AC power is becoming pervasive at power consumer sites, e.g., ordinary homes. Such power control apparatuses can also execute a stand-alone operation for supplying power supplied from distributed power supply to load equipments at consumer sites, for example, when the power system breaks down (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1).
Here, the power output from distributed power supply, e.g., photovoltaic cells, depends on the weather. Accordingly, the power supplied to a load equipment from distributed power supply (hereinafter referred to as supplied power) at the time of a stand-alone operation may not satisfy power required for operating the load equipment (hereinafter referred to as demanded power). In such a case, a sufficient quantity of power cannot be supplied to the load equipment, and therefore a correct operation of the load equipment is not ensured.
Accordingly, when a stand-alone operation is started to connect the distributed power supply and the load equipment, such a power control apparatus executes an output determination process for determining whether or not a supplied power from distributed power supply satisfies a demanded power required for operating the load equipment.